Wind
by bittersweet dreams
Summary: It's been six years. Sasuke has finally avenged his clan. He reflects on the changes of Konoha, a certain blond and their pink haired teammate. 'Now that you've avenged you clan, do you think you can finally live a life of happiness' [one shot]


Summary: After successfully avenging the clan, Uchiha Sasuke returns to Konoha. Meeting up with his old teammates from genin days, he wonders about the rest of his life. And it was all because of that one question. ' Now that you've avenged your clan, do you think you can finally live a life of happiness, where you'll be loved, and learn to love?'

AN: Hehehehe! I'm back! Anyways, this is my first one shot, and it's pure Sasu/Saku romance. There is, however a very small hinting that Naruto and Hinata are together… but it's irrelevant to the story.

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, neither does any anime, come to think of it.

* * *

**Wind**

A soft breeze blew past the Uchiha estates, while the light thud of someone's footsteps could be heard. Opening a creaky gate, a man no more than 18 walked up to the graves of his deceased clan members. Gently, his fingers caressed a gray tombstone. " It's been a while, hasn't Kaa-san, Tou-san?" The only surviving Uchiha member whispered. Slowly, Sasuke walked around every tombstone, reading the names of the Uchiha members silently. " Uchiha clan, Kaa-san, Tou-san, I've finally avenged your deaths."

* * *

_The roar of thunder could be heard behind the two siblings as they fought. The rain pounded hard on their exposed skin and their wounds. The battle is fast approaching an end; both were nearing chakra depletion. _

_" Well, little brother, you have certainly grown stronger than I last saw you four years ago." Itachi blinked his eyes tiredly. The Menge Sharingan was draining him of his precious chakra._

_" I've waited really long for this moment, Itachi. When I will finally be able to stain my hands with your blood!" Sasuke spat out vehemently, images of his dead parents raw on his mind._

_" You're stronger, but still weak."_

_In that instant, Sasuke realized he had fallen right into Itachi's trap. From behind him came a dozen or so shurikens aimed at his head and chest. The bunshins jumped out and continued to battle Sasuke using taijutsu moves. Low on chakra, Sasuke refrained from using any ninjutsus and genjutsus, opting, opting just like his Itachi was, taijutsu. Sasuke knew he was outnumbered though, therefore he jumped back throwing his equal share of shurikens at the bunshins. The remaining chakra would be saved for his special move, Chidori. An arrogant smirk played on Sasuke's lips as he saw and heard Itachi's bunshins give a poof and disappear. _

_**'Something's wrong'** Alerts sounded in Sasuke's mind. Scanning the area with his Sharingan eyes, Sasuke couldn't find his older brother anywhere. Suddenly…_

_" Katon: Gokakou no jutsu!"_

_A fiery inferno engulfed Sasuke. Starring nonchalantly at the flames, Itachi felt a bit relieved that he would come out victorious from this tiresome battle, his brother had indeed gained more power, probably thanks to Orochimaru. Anticipating Sasuke's body to be down on the floor, burned, but not dead, Itachi walked up towards where his little brother's body should be. As he walked, he mentally began to think of the night he killed his entire clan, except his brother. It was perfect material for his Tsukoyumi genjutsu. As Itachi neared, his face bore a slight frown**. ' So these past few years, Sasuke has gotten smarter, not only stronger.'** No burned body was found on the floor. _

_The battle raged on.

* * *

_" It was a really hard battle, and I'm still surprised that I came out alive…"

* * *

_**'I can make it! Just a little more… I can't just pass out yet! Just a little bit more…'** Sasuke's mind encouraged him to continue; though his body refused to comply. He had killed Itachi just over fifteen minutes ago. True to his plan, he had used Chidori as the finishing move. Unfortunately, Chidori had used up most of his saved chakra; he only had about 10 of chakra left. The rain was relentless._

_" Damn…" Slowly, Sasuke's eyes fluttered as he buckled down and met the forest floor._

_The rain began to soften.

* * *

_" Heh. And who would've guessed that I would return back to this village? Much less that dobe be the one who brought me back?" Sasuke muttered, still facing the tombstones, as images of the blond shinobi, his rival and best friend, played in his mind.

* * *

"_Sensei! Come! Hurry!" A little girl with crimson hair yelled. It's a body!"_

_In a puff of smoke, the girl's sensei appeared. "What is it, Aita?"_

_" A…A body, sensei! I found him here like this, while trying to catch up to Kotoro-kun." The young girl explained, pointing at the body._

_" Well then…" her sensei trailed off from his sentence as he started to search the surroundings for any clue as to who the body was. When none was found, the young jounin turned over the body. His cerulean orbs widened ever so slightly. " Aita, tell Kotoro and Aru that training is done for the day." The sensei instructed. " I'm going to bring him back to Konoha."_

_"Sensei, you sure about this? What if he's an enemy from Sound?"_

_" He was, but not anymore." Came the older nin's short reply. He disappeared into a puff of smoke, while carrying the unconscious body. The jounin stared down at his load, a nostalgic smile on his face. _

_" Well, Sasuke, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

* * *

_"It's amazing how much Konoha has changed, and yet, everything's still the same. For one thing, Naruto has become a great jounin, and a teacher for a three-man team. It's also been determined that he would be the next Hokage after Tsunade leaves her post. For another…" His sentenced remained unfinished as his mind trailed off to a certain pink-haired kunoichi.

* * *

" _Haruno-san, thank goodness you're here! We just received the ANBU team from last month! Some are in a terrible condition, albeit the healers sent with the team. Them and… we have a man from an anonymous village who was just brought here by Uzumaki Naruto. This man is also in a critical state, he has many huge wounds, burns and is unconscious."_

_" Wow, busy day, ne? Right! I'll take three ANBU members and that mysterious man. That alright, Miharu-chan?"_

_"Yep, oh, and I suppose you finished class early, since you came half an hour early, ne?"_

_"Yeah…" Sakura looked down to see the room numbers of her patients and began to walk away. **'Hm.. anonymous guy, ne? Well, Konoha nins come first so… I'll just have to wait.'**_

_After treating the three ANBU members, Sakura stepped into the room of her fourth patient. '**If Naruto brought him in… he must be…'** The body on the bed stirred. **' So he's not unconscious, at least not anymore..'** She saw rich bluish black hair. _

_Nearing the bed, Sakura suddenly felt a strong amount of chakra, tainted, powerful chakra. For a moment, Sakura thought maybe she should ready herself for an enemy attack, but then she remembered Naruto had brought him in, plus he has multiple injuries. **' Wouldn't do much damage at his rate.'**_

_The head turned, once Sakura focussed her chakra to her hand to perform the healing jutsu. His face was towards her. For a second, Sakura lost her concentration._

_"Sasuke-kun!"

* * *

_" Sakura has become a great kunochi, if it wasn't for her pink hair, I wouldn't have thought that ninja was her. In these past years, I suppose I'm not the only one who trained endlessly. It's still mind boggling though, how far she's gone in just these four years…"

* * *

"_There… almost done…" Sakura muttered to herself, very aware that Sasuke was awake and half-naked because she had to treat a huge stomach wound. The green glow around her hands began to fade as she stopped the chakra to her hands. Sakura smiled slightly to Sasuke. " Judging from your wounds and your burns… you've battled with Itachi?"_

_" Aa." Sasuke watched as the pink haired woman walked towards an opened cabinet and reached for a bottle. Walking back with the bottle in hand, Sakura dipped her fingers in its contents and gently rubbed the cream onto Sasuke's arms. " It's an ointment for burns."_

_" You've finally received your revenge, ne?" Sakura asked suddenly, her eyes focused on the multiple burns on his arms. A silent flashback of their genin days played in her mind. The memory was of when they were telling Kakashi-sensei what their goals were._

_"There. The ointment will sting in about two minutes, then about five minutes after, it should be cooling down." Sakura warned Sasuke. _

_" Aa." Sakura took a seat next to Sasuke. Her green eyes bore into his onyx ones. "Sasuke-kun…" The way said his name brought back many memories, ones which he thought he would never remember. _

_Sakura's line of sight wondered to the clock above the doorway. " I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but I've got to go now." Sakura got up and smiled brightly at her old teammate. _

_**'Go? Go where? Doesn't she work in the hospital?'** A confused look crept its way on Sasuke's features. _

_" Oh, I guess you wouldn't know. Apart from working here in the hospital, I also teach in the Academy. It was my idea, to teach the students basic healing jutsus and medicinal herbs." Sakura smiled sheepishly at Sasuke. " I thought if we introduce the kids about medic nins earlier on, they would maybe decide on becoming one. Besides, medicine and healing jutsus would be useful when they create the genin teams, especially when they get into dangerous missions." Sakura explained, thinking back to when she, Naruto, and Sasuke were a team.'** Of course,I don't think any missions would be as dangerous as the ones we were put up against...'**Sasuke listened and merely nodded. Sakura then turned and reached for her jounin vest. **' She even made it to Jounin…'** Putting on the vest, Sakura turned and gave Sasuke another smile. " I'll see you in a while, after my class!"

* * *

_" Tch, I'm talking about Sakura way to much, and straying away from why I really came here. It's already been two months since… but I still can't figure out the answer. I rarely asked any of you for anything, when you were alive or dead, but now… do any of you know the answer to Sakura's annoying question?" Sasuke asked, staring at the air, still standing in the Uchiha graveyard.

* * *

_" Sasuke-kun…" The girl sitting beside Sasuke was playing her rosette locks, her gaze determined on the tree ahead of her. It has been a couple of weeks since Sasuke came back to Konoha, and the two were waiting for Naruto to finish up with his team's mission- they had all agreed with Kakashi to have a get-together at the bar. A soft summer breeze swept past, blowing down the last of the cherry blossoms on the trees. "Sasuke-kun…" She tried again, struggling to figure out the right wording for her question. " Now that you've avenged your clan… are you planning to complete your other goal in life?" She blushed slightly._

_" My…other goal?" For a moment Sasuke had a look of bewilderment, then realized that he indeed did have another goal to complete: the resurrection of his clan. He then understood Sakura's question. " I don't know, I didn't think I would survive the battle against Itachi, but…" He looked up at Sakura, hoping she got the message that he wasn't interested in Sakura, at least, at the moment. Sakura got the message instantly._

_" Oh, no, Sasuke-kun! That's not why I asked the question! I only wanted to know…" She trailed off, then continued on again. " I only wanted to know if you'd be able to live a normal life now. Well, as normal as it can get." She gave Sasuke a quick smile. " You know, a life where you'd be happy, where you'd be loved, and probably learn to love." Sasuke hung on to every single word she said, contemplating silently. _

_" Once again, I'm not sure, Sakura. But here's a question for you. Do you think a demon like me, a person who had pushed everyone away, including you, and worked only to fight my brother to ever be close to anyone? Do you think a demon like me can ever live a 'normal' life? Can a demon like me ever love?" _

_Sakura wanted to respond to those questions, wanted to tell him that she didn't think him as a demon, but she knew what he meant. He wasn't a demon, but how can someone who only knew loneliness and coldness all his life ever feel the warmth of love? She sighed, then gave a small smile. " Yes. I do, if you meet the right person." _

_Sasuke looked taken aback at Sakura's reply, but decided to brush it away. The continued to wait, watching the cherry blossoms gently glide in the air.

* * *

_Sasuke smiled a bit that he actually thought that his dead clan would answer him. He knew since he was a child that the dead would never come back to life, much less answer your questions. He sighed. " In any case, I might not even live to figure out the answer. Tomorrow, I'd be going out on my first mission as ANBU, Kakashi being the one who asked Hokage-sama to let me be an ANBU, since I did kill Orochimaru, Itachi and his partner Kisame. This mission has a survival rate of 20… so I guess that I would probably be with you guys soon. It's getting late, Kaa-san, Tou-san… I suppose I should be getting to bed. Oyasumi Nasai." Sasuke then walked up to the graves of his parents and left a single flower: forget-me-not, her mother's favourite flower. He turned and left the graveyard.

* * *

" Alright, does everyone know the plan? Good, then…" The ANBU captain saw that there were many people standing around the gates, even in such an early hour of the morning. He waited a while for his teammates to say goodbye to their lovers and family; he had already done so before he left his wife confident that he would return, despite the high death rate. " Alright, let's go!" He and his team had began to draw up chakra at their feet, and were about the set off when a woman with shoulderlengthpink hair ran towards the army of shinobis.

" Wait, Sasuke-kun!" She panted when she stopped in front of the team, everyone's focus on her. She ignored all the attention and walked up to Sasuke, her face a pretty shade of pink. The rest of the team began to check their weapon supply, giving the couple the liberty of talking without that much attention.

" Sasuke-kun… I want to give you something," she said, as she fumbled in her pocket for the gift. Sasuke continued to stare at her, he didn't know why, but he wanted to remember every aspect of her, wanted to keep her in his memory. " Here." She handed him a single small pale blue flower. He recognized the flower immediately. " It's a forget-me-not." Sakura explained, confirming Sasuke's thoughts. " Promise you'd keep it with you at all times? I put all my prayers on that flower, so… I hope that would help a bit… and like the flower implies… please Sasuke-kun… don't forget me… or Naruto… or Konoha." She gave Sasuke a bright smile, the one she always wore when she felt confident. Her cheeks were the same shade of pink as her hair. Sasuke took the flower, and stored it carefully in his pocket. " Aa… I guess I'll see you later." With that, he turned around and the entire team disappeared into thin air simultaneously.

* * *

"Haruno-san, your mission went well? I heard your team was successful, and came out with few injuries, apparently thanks to you. And you even caught the nin, although your entire team was down." Miharu had obviously heard the story of her amazing mission. Really, it wasn't much of anything, but still… everyone continued on ranting. Sakura sighed; maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask Tsunade to be her teacher.

" Miharu, are there any new patients in today?" Sakura decided to stop her rantings, at least for now.

" Yeah, the ANBU team from last month just came back, I'm surprised, it seems that the newest member, Uchiha Sasuke had saved his entire group. Most of them came back alive, though two are in critical condition. Tsunade-sama had even came out to help, one of them has some really serious toxins in his body."

At the mention of Sasuke coming back safely, Sakura had felt completely relieved, part of the reason why her team had all fallen was because she had been thinking about Sasuke's condition a little too often. She still cursed herself that she didn't tell the rest of her team about the traps. " Alright, I guess I should take the other critical condition patient, the one that was put under the genjutsu, and the others that have poisons in them. I'm still one short, aren't I? I guess I'll take Uchiha, then."

" Okay Sakura-san. Though, Uchiha doesn't seem to be in such a bad shape. Then again… you do deserve a break, ne?"

" Yea.." Sakura smiled at Miharu briefly before setting off to her patients.

After making sure that her other three patients were in a stable condition, Sakura walked over to where Sasuke was. She was definitely surprised; he bore almost no injuries except for a couple of cuts, and a deep, long cut on his left leg. " Hi, Sasuke-kun." Sakura had greeted him after breaking the eye contact both of them had. She walked promptly to Sasuke-s left leg, gathered up chakra at her hands and let them rest slight above Sasuke's cut.

" I'm astonished. For an ANBU mission to have such a high death rate, you have very few injuries. Not only that, but I heard you made it possible that the entire team came out alive, did you not?" Sakura had said, trying to make conversation with the quiet Uchiha. Even though he had opened up to her just a bit, old habits die hard.

" Heh. See, training with Orochimaru was a good thing… it's either that, or that Konoha has really gone soft." Sasuke smirked his famous ' Uchiha Sasuke' smirk. The pink hair kunoichi's eyes narrowed in dismay, a frown in place.

" Humph. I hope you're not feeling superior for betraying Konoha all these years. And Konoha is NOT soft!" She said angrily, feeling a bit hurt that Sasuke had insulted all of Konoha's ninjas including her. Hadn't she shown him that she was just a strong as anyone else? She was after all, considered one of Konoha's strongest kunoichis, after Hyuuga Hinata, who had trained with Naruto and improved greatly.

" I was only teasing, Sakura-chan." Sasuke still had on his smirk; Sakura was cute when she was angry. He also enjoyed the reaction she had when she heard his newest remark. Her eyes were wide in disbelief and a small blush tinged her cheeks. " Teasing, Sakura-chan," **_' Why am I adding the –chan? It just came out like that's how her name is meant to sound…'_** " It wasn't entirely the fact that I trained with Orochimaru, actually, his training hardly helped me. I never even used the jutsus he taught me, not even when I was fighting Itachi. What gave me the strength really was…" He paused as he felt around in his right pocket. " What helped me was this." He stated, his right hand outstretched showing Sakura the object.

" You kept it!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to surpress another blush. " Sasuke-kun… it doesn't look harmed at all, it still looks the same as the day I gave it to you…" Sakura said, tenderly lifting the forget-me-not and placing it towards her heart.

" Your blessing really did help."

Sakura's eyes closed peacefully, both her hands still clasped at her heart, with the flower in between. " This is my second favourite flower, after cherry blossoms. I used to imagine that whenever I did this, someone somewhere would remember me… someone who had abandoned this village." Sakura explained, sounding far away and faint. Sasuke understood.

" I never did forget you, or anyone else here. It was a bond I couldn't break." There was a long pause, Sakura slowly turned towards Sasuke, it had just occurred to her that Sasuke was saying a lot to her, opened up to her a lot. " And about that question, I have an answer as well."

Sakura continued to stare at the Uchiha. Had he really considered the question she had asked him two years ago? Sure, she had asked out of curiosity, but she also wanted to know if Sasuke would ever be able to give the love she had so willingly gave to him back to her. It was hard to believe, but even now, six years since he left, she still loved him. That was why she was still single, all the other kunoichi's are happily spending their free time with their lovers. And here she was, sitting by the bed of her only love, understanding that that fairytale happy ending would never happen to her. She watched him struggle with the answer.

" Yes." It was a simple one-syllable reply, but it lifted Sakura's spirit higher than anything else did. She sat stunned by his bed. Gently, he reached out and wrapped his muscular arms around the woman, taking in her scent. " And I think I found the right person. She was someone who was always there for me, no matter what, someone who risked her life for me countless times, and most of all, someone who had always loved me from the start. That person is Haruno Sakura." He whispered hoarsely. The stayed like that for a long time.

* * *

Three months later, a couple walked hand in hand down a street lined with sakura trees. The man, a head taller than the woman, had raven coloured hair, wore a navy blue turtleneck, the neck part being extremely wide. On his back was the Uchiha fan. He was none other than Uchiha Sasuke, still known as Konoha's Heartthrob. Beside him was a woman with shoulder length pink hair, and strikingly bright green eyes. This woman could've been mistaken as Haruno Sakura, but no, that girl had died three months ago. This woman walking with Sasuke had luscious pink hair, bright green eyes, and wore a white shirt with the Uchiha symbol plastered proudly on her back. This woman was known none other than _Uchiha Sakura._

Sasuke looked down at his wife, as cherry blossoms started to float down, brought down by the light spring breeze.

Sasuke had a warm smile on his face.

* * *

AN: It's a long one shot ne? Oh well...

Review please:P the review button is feeling lonely without it's best friend, the mouse cursor!


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